Malcolm Lowry · 1947 · road

Malcolm Lowry's 1947 novel compresses the last day of an alcoholic British ex-consul into a single Day of the Dead in the Mexican town of Quauhnahuac, in the shadow of two volcanoes. The route follows his final descent from the town out to Tomalin and the cantina at Parian.

1. 1
   Quauhnahuac

   On the Day of the Dead, 1938, in Quauhnahuac beneath the volcanoes, the ruined ex-consul Geoffrey Firmin drinks through the last morning of his life as his wife and brother try to save him.

2. 2
   Tomalín

   The three set out by bus for a bullfight at Tomalin, past a dying man left by the roadside, the day sliding steadily out of anyone's control.

3. 3
   Parián

   In the Farolito cantina at Parian, at the foot of Popocatepetl, the Consul finds his mescal and his end, and is thrown into the ravine below.